Elysia
Elysia is the capital city of the state of Goruid in the League of Palus and of Great Thornia, and it is also the administrative centre of the Elysia Metropolitan Area. The city's central business district sits on the plains island of Elysia on the west coast of the Goruid peninsula, on the eastern side of the Bay of Thornia. The villages of Thorun and Carcea are accessible via the Goruid highway. The settlement is a major agricultural and mining station in the region. The settlement serves as the principal maritime port of the Goruid peninsula and has also become an increasingly important centre of military command for the eastern half of the League of Palus. The discovery of extensive deposits of iron and gold has also made the settlement wealthy in a much shorter period of time compared to Palus Urbem. However, recent intensive government (Goruid) investment in local industry has made its purchasing power significantly less in the short-term. As of late, the city has been hit by several waves of pillager invasions, bringing the Pillager War deep into developed territory. The Royal Iron Guard, the main paramilitary policing force of the city, has managed to repel these attacks. Despite of these setbacks, the settlement has grown remarkably rapidly from a farming station to one of the most populous and profitable cities in the world. It is also the only city in the world buoyed by internal trade rather than through external trade with other settlements or nations. History Discovery and settlement (Mid to late 2019) The site of Elysia was first discovered during the early Umic expeditions to the Bay of Thornia in 2016. Only the swamps (where Palus Urbem is now located) were actively visited and developed thereafter. There were plans to transform the northern plains of Goruid into vast farms but these plans were abandoned with the advent of the Tyavylian slopped field mechanism (redstone and water harvesting contraptions). It was only after the de facto end of the Umic nation with the great migration to Palus Urbem under the Palus Plan that the area around Elysia received attention from authorities. The rediscovery of Elysia Island prompted the Thornian government (now the state government of Goruid) to establish a settlement there as a regional operations base. The first building constructed in Elysia was the Governor's manor house (built in the early Thornica wooden style of architecture). A wheat farm was tilled in front of the house. The Spruce and Birch Boom (Late 2019 to January 2020) Elysia is steadily growing from a farming station, to a village, and now to a town. The unexpected influx of villagers from Thuron has seen Elysia become increasingly overcrowded and lacking in public housing. The Governor's manor house was soon followed by a two-story hollow building for the Elysia nether portal as well as housing for villagers. On 18 January 2020, Elysia annexed the neighbouring village of Thuron and the surrounding fields on the south bank of the Rai River. This gives Elysia a metropolitan area roughly as large Ume City's. On 27 January 2020, the third pillager battle to occur in Elysia took place with Thornian forces facing an overwhelmingly large pillager force. The Elysia Town Hall (which also acts as the temporary headquarters of the Royal Government of Great Thornia (the Secretariat) was completed earlier in the day. The completion of several large-scale public housing complexes have allowed the settlement to greatly increase the number of available units and beds, leading to a sudden population boom. City status (February 2020 - Present) On 2 February 2020, the Crown of Great Thornia granted city status to Elysia due to its developed status as well as its increased population size and built-up area. City authorities began expanding the developed area of the city across the river into the peninsula south of Elysia Island by building a barn for sheep and cattle. The older dirt-walled grazing area in the south-east corner of the island was demolished. Elysia Convention Centre (ECC) is being built in its place, though work was disrupted by the Fifth and Sixth Battles of Elysia Island. The ECC would later feature a stained glass recreation of the Great Thornian banner. The city's rapid growth by mid February had convinced the Crown of Great Thornia to regard it as the metropol or new home city of the Thornian nation, rather than Palus Urbem. This recognition goes a step beyond the city being the capital, as the Crown now sees the city and its environs as the core territory of Thornia. Economy Elysia's main industries include wheat, pumpkins, wool, leather, cooked meats, paper, books, sugar and tools. Trading with villagers allows residents to gain access to rare or exotic goods not normally accessible within Goruid. Emeralds have become the de facto currency of the Elysia Metropolitan Area due to the extensive player-villager trade that occurs in the region. Transportation The town's main forms of transportation are walking and horses. Elysia is part of the Goruid highway system, meaning that it is possible to travel by foot or horseback from Elysia to other settlements such as Thuron and Carcea. Work on the first section of the Great Thornia Metro (GTM) along the west coast is due to begin with selection of stations and the design of the rail bridges under consideration. The GTM is intended to be a proof of concept as well as a part of the SuperMetro system proposed in the Palus Plan II. Architecture Much of the settlement's architecture is based off Palus Urbem's Fourth Republic style. This means the principal building material is wood. At the beginning of the building boom, a combination of spruce, birch, and oak were used for buildings. By the middle of it, birch had been replaced by jungle wood. The transition from growing smaller spruce and birch trees to growing huge spruce and jungle trees made wood greatly cheaper, and thus led to even larger, multi-story wooden buildings. All new public housing since the jungle wood transition are now significantly larger, allowing for more beds, thus leading to a massive population boom in the settlement. Administrative divisions The city is divided into several wards (larger areas), which are further divided into precincts for the purposes of policing and urban planning. The areas listed here are part of what is called the Lesser Metropolitan which excludes wards centred around satellite towns (e.g. Carcea and Hegea).